Opportunity Knocks for Illustrators (of all ages and abilities)

Being a children's author, I, Eric Pullin, am always on the lookout for special illustrations for my works.

Special doesn't mean technically perfect or stunningly beautiful, it means innovative, different, eye-catching, exciting. It doesn't matter whether you are a professional illustrator, an up-and-coming artist, a student, a kid, if you can draw - read on.

About 8 years ago I met a young art student who was taking part in a competition to become the illustrator for my, now popular, "Why Series" bedtime stories. One day he showed me a portfolio of his work. His speciality was drawing human hands - which, I am told, are very difficult to draw well. The pictures that he showed me took my breath away.

I was so impressed with his work that I offered to write a special piece for him to illustrate - a story about "hands". I wanted to give him a platform to show off his amazing talent.

It took me a while to come up with an idea for my story, by which time, the competition to become my "Why Series" illustrator had finished. He had not been the winner.

I finally found the inspiration for my story about hands and I began writing a poem for children about a fantasy world called "The Land of the Hand". Once I had completed the first few verses I took them to him to read. He seemed thrilled at the prospect of illustrating the poem and I left him to work on his side of the project.

Several weeks later, having not heard from him, I went to his college to find out how he was getting on with the illustrations. There I found that he had given up his college course and that no one knew where he had gone. His tutors told me of personal problems that he was wrestling with but that his leaving had been a complete shock to them.

My poem had lost its illustrator and so it was decided that a class of students at the college should illustrate "The Land of the Hand" as part of their course work. I finished writing the story and they set to work.

Though that group of students produced some beautiful work for me, there was nothing that compared with the pictures that I know would have come from the intended illustrator.

"The Land of the Hand" was put onto a shelf to collect dust.

Since that time, I have used the story in many of the schools that I visit each year. Children seem to love the story and I am constantly asked when or if it will be published.

See what you think - this is "The Land Of The Hand" ...


The Land of the Hand


There’s a far off land
The land of the hand,
Where bodies and heads
And arms and legs
Have ceased to be,
Quite naturally,
In this far off land,
The land of the hand.

In the land of the hand,
You understand,
Socks and shoes
Have all been banned.
The people there are well equipped
To walk around on finger tips.
For socks and shoes there’s no demand
In the far off land,
The land of the hand.

In the land of the hand
The hands are wise 
And they watch and learn
Through searching eyes. 
Each has a mouth, a nose and ears. 
Each hand can talk and smell and hear.
And everything they do is planned
In this far off land,
The land of the hand.

In the land of the hand
You’ll see such things
There are flying hands
With giant wings,
And hands that swim,
And hands that crawl,
Then, hidden in amongst them all
Are those who simply sit or stand
In the far off land,
The land of the hand.

In the land of the hand
Is a mountain high,
And if you’re ever passing by
Your eyes will be drawn to its very peak, 
Where rocks and clouds play hide and seek,
And there you will see
A palace grand,
Where lives the King
Of the land of the hand.

The King of the land
Wears a jewelled crown,
And he sits on his throne
In a velvet gown.
Each of his fingers
Is ringed with gold,
And he spends his days,
Or so I’m told,
Teaching the children to understand
The ways of the land,  
The land of the hand.

In the land of the hand
There are plants, you know,
Where lollipops
And ice creams grow.
And the early morning dew is made
From tiny drops of lemonade.
There are giant chocolate trees that stand
In the fields of the land,
The land of the hand.

In the land of the hand
For a thousand years
There’s never been
The need for tears,
For every single hand is blessed
With endless days of happiness.
It seems quite hard to understand
Why we all can’t live
In the land of the hand.

But the land of the hand
Is just a dream,
Where no one’s ever really been.
Yet, if you snuggle down at night
And close your eyelids really tight
And think of that King
In his palace, grand,
Perhaps you’ll find
The land of the hand.

And if you do,
Make no mistake,
You’ll only stay
Until you wake.
But all of the wondrous sights you see
Will seem as real as reality.
Into just one night
A lifetime’s crammed
When you visit the land,
The land of the hand.
 
© Eric Pullin 2012.
(Please do not use without the poet's permission.)


I would love to turn this story into a picture book. I believe that an illustrator can find a wealth of interesting images within these words.

So here's the challenge -

If you can draw and would like to have a go at illustrating my story I'd love to hear from you. If you would like to take any of the verses of "The Land of the Hand" and come up with your illustration for that verse, I would love to see it. There are no guarantees attached. but there is an opportunity.

If you are 8 years old or 80 years old it doesn't matter. Maybe it would be good to have this story illustrated by a very young artist - maybe a professional illustrator could turn these words into a beautiful picture book. I have no set idea as to what I am looking for. Style, size, medium, - it's up to you. Take my breath away again with something special.

You can contact me at eric.pullin@tiscali.co.uk.

I hope you'll have a go - I'm waiting for your pictures.

Our Recommended Reads from July 2012

Check out the reviews section of our website for the latest recommended reads - from children's fiction to poetry and classic reads we're sure there is something for everyone. We also welcome your reviews too - email them to 'Reviews' at info@bookapoet.co.uk and we'll let you know when we use it!

Below are the titles we recommended during July 2012:

‘Nefertiti in the Flak Tower’ by Clive James (Picador Poetry)

'I Spy with My Little Eye on the Farm' by Edward Gibbs (Templar Publishing)

‘My Brother Simple’ by Marie-Aude Murail (Bloomsbury)

‘Call Down Thunder’ by Daniel Finn (Macmillan Children’s Books)

‘The Dragon Prophecy: The Dragonology Chronicles’ by Dugald A. Steer (Templar Publishing)

‘Tiger Wars: The Falcon Chronicles’ (Book 1) by Steve Backshall (Orion Books)
 'Gods and Warriors' by Michelle Paver (Puffin)

‘Icespell’ by C J Busby (Templar Publishing)

‘Why Owls Are the Wisest Birds’ by Eric Pullin / Illustrated by Chris Davis (Barny Books)

‘The Ring of Sky: Young Samurai’ (Book 8) by Chris Bradford (Puffin)

August's recommended reads will start to appear on the website from next week. A selection of reviews will be published here too, as well as on our Facebook page and Twitter account.

The Story Behind the Story - Guest Blog from author Eric Pullin

It would seem that my life has gone "full circle". As a young man I was a primary school teacher. I loved every minute of my days in school. Now, older and I hope wiser, I am a children's author - a job that once again gives me the opportunity to work in schools with young children. I still love every minute of my days in school.

There is no greater reward for me than to watch a young face light up with joy and amazement as I read one of my stories. I'm a sucker for kids - and they know it. They wrap me around their little fingers and I wouldn't want it any other way. They are our future - a future which, through them, I have the priviledge of helping to mould.

Classroom sessions invariably end with a host of questions about me and my work, about books and favourite characters etc. At this point I always tell my class that the most important questions to ask any author are, "Why did you write that story?" or "Why did you become an author?". Having met and talked with many fellow story writers, I have found that the answers to those questions always give a greater understanding and appreciation of their work. The story behind the story is often as entertaining and informative as the story itself.

What was that you said? Why did I write that story? Why did I become an author? O.K. I'll tell you all.

Nine years ago, my first grand daughter was born. When Lucy came along I, like all grandads, wanted to be the best grandad in the world. I wanted to find a special gift for Lucy - a gift that she would carry through life - a gift that would say "I love you" every time she saw it. I decided that I would write her a story, just a little bedtime story, a story that I hoped she would always remember, a story that she would tell to her own children, one day.

I had never written a story in my life and for over a year I struggled with all the usual children's story topics - fairies, princesses, witches, wizards, magic, fantasy worlds, you know the list. I soon found that I was not very good with the written word.

I was on the point of giving up on my idea when one day, as I sat in my office at home, Digweed my cat came and jumped on my lap, wanting to be fussed. As I listened to his purring a thought entered my head. Lucy will get to know Digweed as she grows up. She will play with him and fuss him just as I am doing now. I will write her a story about Digweed. Into my computer I typed the words "DIGWEED THE CAT" in big bold letters, and I began to write.

Four months and 100,000 words later I finally typed "the end" - the end of my story. I had become an author.

"Digweed the Cat" was hardly "a little bedtime story". It was useless as a gift for an 18-month old child, but I had found so much enjoyment in writing my story that I couldn't wait to start my next project.

There is a happy ending. On Lucy's 7th birthday, one of the gifts that she received was a book called "Digweed the Cat". For many hours Lucy and I would sit together in a big armchair and she would read "Digweed the Cat" to me. Lucy loves her story. How special do you think that makes me feel?

When Lucy was 3 years old my second grand daughter, Lulah was born. Having written a story for Lucy I had to do the same for my new little girl. Once again, finding the right title for my story was proving difficult until, one day, I took a walk in the woods behind my home with Lucy for company.

On our walk we met a lady who was out with her two dogs. Not just ordinary dogs, these were the biggest dogs that Lucy, or I had ever seen. Though she was tiny, Lucy showed no fear of the huge animals and began stroking one of the dogs whilst I chatted to the lady. The dog who was not receiving Lucy's attention became jealous and started to bark - big dog - very loud bark. This frightened Lucy. The owner began to shout and scold the dog for frightening such a sweet little girl which only seemed to upset Lucy more. I tried to calm the situation by telling Lucy that the barking was just the dog saying "Please can I have some fuss too!" Lucy accepted that this was the case and stroked the jealous animal. All was fine again.

We left the lady and her dogs and continued our walk, but I could tell that something was bothering Lucy - she wasn't chattering away as she usually did. When I asked if she was alright she turned to me and said, "Grampy, why don't animals talk like we do?"  Lucy had been thinking that if only the silly dog had said "Please stroke me too" instead of barking, there would not have been any trouble.

I began trying to explain animal noises and we had great fun for the rest of our walk making all sorts of silly sounds, but when I was alone later that night I realised what a wonderful and imaginative question that little 3-year-old had asked me. It turned out to be a question that changed my whole life.

"Why Animals Don't Talk" - I had found a title for my story for Lulah. That same night the story was written and, over the next few days, turned into verse - my first venture into poetry.

I soon realised that titles for future books would no longer be a problem. "WHY" would be my signature word, "WHY" would link my stories together. I could write about "WHY" anything. Before long I had written "Why Stars Come Out At Night",  "Why Pigs Have Curly Tails", "Why Tomatoes are Round and Red" and many other similar stories - all in verse - all to exactly the same format.

"The Why Series" was born.

Once illustrated, the stories were published and a whole new world opened up for me. Thank you Lucy and Lulah for changing my life.

There is a story behind all of my stories. I never know where inspiration will come from but I am always ready when the spark occurs. Recently, I was walking to collect Lucy from school, a trip that I take every day. My walk took me through a small wooded area of oaks, beeches and pines. Under my feet was a bed of soft grass and moss sprinkled with pine needles and beechnut husks.

Suddenly, I noticed a bare patch of ground - a spot where nothing grew - no grass no weeds - nothing. I began to wonder why, in just this single small patch, no seed had germinated, no grass had encroached, no moss had spread. I must have passed this spot hundreds of times before, but never noticed it. As I looked and pondered my imagination started to take over. Could this be an alien footprint, a witch's grave, a fairy playground - could anything ever grow in this place? And then, all became clear in my mind. This was a spot that the woodland was saving for a very special tree to grow. This bare, barren patch of ground was reserved for the seed of "The Magical Tree".

"The Magical Tree" is my latest story. Once again I have chosen to write in verse. The book is currently being illustrated by a group of students at Edinburgh's Stevenson College, a college where pupils and tutors have been a massive help to me over the years. I will see those illustrations in a few weeks' time and I will have the wonderful, but very difficult task of choosing a student to co-publish "The Magical Tree".

So if ever you meet an author, do remember to ask ,"Why did you write that story?" and don't be surprised by an amazing reply.

The most successful series of children's books ever has to be Roger Hargreaves "Mr Men" books. Though I have never been able to confirm this urban legend the story behind "The Mr Men" brand goes like this ...

Roger Hargreaves was a brilliant artist who worked for an advertising company. One day at lunch with his wife and small son, his lad turned to him and said, "Daddy, can you draw me a tickle?" I guess that most of us, in that situation, would have tried to draw something like a feather being used to tickle but Roger Hargreaves had a different idea. He took a pen from his pocket and a paper napkin from the table and drew the image that later became "Mr Tickle" with the long arms and tickly fingers. Once he had drawn that image he realised that he could create a series of similar characters and soon Mr Happy and Mr Bump and many others were born.

"Daddy, can you draw me a tickle?" - "Grampy, why don't animals talk like we do?" - the story behind the story is always worth hearing.

If you read this blog and would like to contact me about my books or about my work in schools I would love to hear from you. If you are thinking of writing your first story and would like me to comment or help I am always available. If you are 8 years old or 80 yearrs old it doesn't matter. My contact address is eric.pullin@tiscali.co.uk or you could visit my (not very good!) website at www.thewhyseries.co.uk.

All of my books are available as both ebooks and printed books via Amazon. If you have any difficulty in finding them please contact me directly.

I'm just waiting for my next story to "happen". I have no idea what it will be about, but I know that it won't be long before something sets me writing again.

© Copyright (Text and Images) Eric Pullin July 2012.